Top Hat

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT TOP HAT - PAGE 5

Name: Jim Duffy Background: Duffy, 40, received a bachelor's degree in sociology from De Kalb University, then a master's in criminal justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He met a chimney sweep, started working with him and ultimately went out on his own to establish Ye Olde Chimney Sweep in Chicago. Duffy, who grew up on the West Side, lives with his wife, Cathi, in Chicago. Years in present position: 11 The history of the chimney sweep is closely tied to the child-labor movement in England.

The Tilley hat first came to my notice in Egypt a couple of years ago. Broad-brimmed, brass-studded and made of sturdy canvas, it sat squarely on the head of a fellow American traveler and pyramid viewer. Casually, I asked where he bought such distinctive and useful-looking headgear. `This," he said smugly "is a Tilley Endurable!" Since he appeared to be using it as a seat cushion, picnic basket and fly swatter as well as a hat, there was much to endure. He started to enumerate the Tilley's virtues ("It floats, it can hold water, it . . . ")

Musicals, particularly those that don't resemble MTV videos, almost never work anymore, and Shakespeare movies, particularly those that don't resemble MTV videos, aren't exactly heating up the Hollywood Stock Exchange. So even if you agree with the many critics (including myself) who don't think "Love's Labour's Lost" quite succeeds in marrying a Shakespeare comedy to a throwback Hollywood musical, you've got to admire Kenneth Branagh for having the pluck and ambition to get this odd peacock of a movie made.

Why hasn't former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash changed his look in 20 years? Too much work, he tells People. "It would be too much of a hassle to try to think of something different to do," the rocker says of his trademark top hat, long hair and sunglasses. "At least it's not as far blown as the whole Kiss thing -- that would have grown pretty tiresome."

The last thing you'd expect to see at a museum exhibit on the Vice Lords, one of the largest, most vicious black street gangs in Chicago, is a photograph of a cherubic white guy. A cherubic white guy in a graduate's cap and gown, with just a hint of a smile. Mayor Richard J. Daley. Daley I, the legendary and late boss of the Democratic machine, father of one mayor, perhaps grandfather to future bosses, greets you as you enter the gang exhibit. "Report to the Public: An Untold History of the Conservative Vice Lords" opens tonight at Art In These Times, 2040 N. Milwaukee Ave. "You've heard of the Hamburg Athletic Club, haven't you?

A man armed with a hand gun, and wearing a top hat that police say makes him resemble Abraham Lincoln, is wanted on suspicion of robbing as many as 10 stores since July in suburban Maryland near Washington, D.C. The man, wearing a false beard and mustache, wire-rimmed sunglasses and a dark overcoat, is using the Lincoln disguise to rob area gas stations and retail stores of hundreds of dollars, according to police. "This is unusual for the fact that he wears the same disguise and actually kind of looks like Abe Lincoln," said Joyce Barrow, spokeswoman for Montgomery County police.

Catch movie stars under the stars as the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival returns for its second summer, with the kick-off at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday showing "An American in Paris." Other classics in the festival include "Top Hat," "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "The Maltese Falcon." Films will be shown at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 28 in Grant Park, at Lake Shore Drive and Monroe Street. Free admission. (312-744-5648 or www.cityofchicago.org.)

Tribune photos by Chuck Berman. Craig Finch (top), hat turned to be out of the way, has his hand steadied by professional archer Stan Swiston at the week-long mini-course on archery offered at the Hinsdale Water Department. At left, Jon Ryan, 10, "pings" his bowstring while class members line up the target (below), then check the target area to see how they scored (right). Theory was taught as well as practice by Swiston for 3d through 8th graders in the class offered by the Hinsdale School District.

Tails in the City sponsored its Halloween pet parade and costume contest on Sunday, and the Wolves missed it. But no worries, RedEye's prognosticating pooch, Whizzer, took time out from football to observe. CHANEL Love it. Your outfit is the wind beneath my wings. PHOEBE Congrats! We have a winner in the "Eva Longoria Lookalike Contest." GIDGET Hard to wear off-the-shoulder when you don't really have a shoulder. JOHANN S. BACH Top hat and tails.

Could even a calorie-counting Grinch resist the pistachio brittle or the cashew butter toffee made by Birchwood Confections? Introduced in mid-November, the handmade candies come packed in handcrafted, hand-labeled boxes sealed with hand-tied ribbons. Birchwood Confections is part of Marla Murray's Wilmette-based Top Hat Co., which markets dessert sauces. She explains, "I wanted each line to have its own identity, although the Birchwood label identifies Top Hat as its parent company."